Everybody Feels a Little Crazy
by TheNewIdea
Summary: The memoir of Shere Khan as he joins the ranks of the "mentally insane" at an institution run by the Disney Heroes. Mainly an experimental piece. Rated T for language, violence, mild descriptions of torture, psychological horror and dark humor. This is an older idea that I am restarting for the third time. It is an experimental piece.
1. The First Day

This story begins on the first day I came to the Disney mental institution known as New Haven Psychiatric Ward for the Scum and Villainous. I had been diagnosed with something called manic depression and rage with murderous intents. I can tell you right now that they only pinned that on me so they could keep me away, there's nothing wrong with me. I am sane.

For some reason they decided to put me in a wheelchair as if walking would be bad for my health or the health of everyone around me. To say that it was humiliating would be an understatement in itself. I was wheeled through a long, dark, depressing hallway with barely anything in the way of lights and into a large gym.

The other patients who I was going to be acquainted with, or so I was told, were all standing in a line in front of a complicated obstacle course. The course was complete with tires, a rock wall, a tightrope and a climbing rope. In order from left to right they were as follows- Scar, Ursula, Pete, Captain Hook and Hades. Scar and Ursula both claim to have inferiority complexes, Pete claims to have extreme paranoia, Captain Hook claims to have obsessive compulsive disorder and Hades claims to have sexual deficiency. The keyword here is "claim" for these reasons are not why they are here, but rather what they said in order to make themselves appear normal in the eyes of the other patients. What they failed to realized, and what I knew, was that normalcy does not exist in a place like this, for everyone is by law, completely insane.

In front of the line was Robin Hood. He was in the middle of giving out instructions when I was rolled in the room. The nurse handed him my clipboard full of my past medical history, which included the false statement of my "condition" as well as a few minor errors. Robin looked at me as if I were a disease that needed to be cleansed and then shooed the nurse out of the gym.

"So you're Shere Khan?" Robin began, putting an annoying emphasis on my last name.

I remained silent.

Robin got angry with me, as if he was expecting to answer the rhetorical question. "Are you Shere Khan?" he screamed.

I looked at him, a smug smile crawled its way across my face.

"I don't know" I answered, "I think I might have amnesia. That's what that clipboard says isn't it, amnesia?"

Robin looked at the clipboard and shook his head.

"It says manic depression and murderous tendencies" Robin replied.

"Murderous tendencies!" I exclaimed sarcastically, my face feigned shock, "I know that we all get depressed now and again but murderous tendencies! Really Robin is that what you're going with?"

I immediately decided to play on the amnesia bit.

"What's going on?" I asked leaning in, "Where am I? Who are you?"

Robin rolled his eyes annoyingly, guessing my little game, "I'm not playing this game Khan."

I ignored him and stretched out my limbs to their extent.

"My, my, well I believe introductions are in order." I continued, "Who did you say I was again?"

Robin slapped his face with his hand in disbelief, "You're Shere Khan...Shere Khan."

I smiled for Robin had given me the perfect opportunity to humiliate him.

"Shere Khan-Shere Khan" I repeated, exactly in Robin's words, "Nope. Don't like it. Just one Shere Khan will do fine"

I extended my paw in greeting, and continued with my gag.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Gerald."

Robin, in order to get this facade of mind over with, took my paw and shook it.

"Please stand over there, right next to Scar so we can begin" Robin declared, sighing a bit as he realized what it was he was dealing with.

I took my position and prepared myself. Robin pulled out a stopwatch.

"Now on the count of three, you are to run this course." Robin began once, giving a glance my way for no reason, "Remember, no cheating, no use of magical powers or weapons to get ahead, only your natural physical ability." Robin gave a glaring look down the line and began the countdown, "One...two...three!"

We then each gave ourselves our best running start.

Hades was jumping over the tires like an Olympic gymnast but started having trouble once he got to the rock wall. Scar and me were almost neck and neck, both of us being big cats, but whereas I initially had difficulty with the tires, Scar flew through them. I had neglected to trim my claws this morning, or rather; the staff had neglected to, and as such were preventing me from continuing the course. Ursula, being a giant octopus with large suction cups on her tentacles, was in a similar situation. Captain Hook meanwhile, fell short at the tightrope, his fear of the crocodile and the ticking sound of the clock inside of it, having reached its peak at that point. Pete opted out of the course due to a medical condition.

Robin blew the whistle around his neck, stopping us all and causing us to return to the line. Ursula and I were having trouble getting ourselves out of the tires; we were helped by Scar and Hades respectively. Once we were back in the line, Robin hung his head in shame, first he turned to me.

"I'm going easy on you because it's your first day"

I nodded in understanding but said nothing.

"As for the rest of you I am deeply disappointed" Robin continued, "You should've completed that course every single one of you!"

Robin turned to Hook

"And you Captain, should've helped out your fellow patients. Never leave a man behind!"

Hook huffed, extremely annoyed, "That wasn't in the rules" Hook exclaimed, "You never said that we had to help each other. All you told us to do was not to cheat!"

Robin shook this off and made a few marks on clipboard that meant nothing. The Captain hung his head in shame and looked close to apologizing but for some reason did not speak, as if speaking would only make the situation worse.

Robin blew his whistle again, in came six attractive nurses rolling wheelchairs. Robin stared at us, his eyes were burning red with rage and discontent.

"Take them to the ward" Robin said sternly, "And do make the tiger feel welcome, he's going to be here for a long time."

The nurses nodded obediently, got in front of us and pushed us violently into the wheelchairs before rolling us out of the gym.

"Next!" Robin yelled. The sound of rushing feet could be heard from the other side of the room as more patients entered the room.

This ward is run entirely by the Disney Corporation and is more like a prison than a mental facility. All of the "patients" here are Disney Villains, mostly from the canon but there are several rare occurrences from time to time. The nurses on my floor are Horace, Minnie, Daisy and Clarabelle Cow. The floor head is Robin, his assistant is Little John. The psychologist for my floor is ironically Donald Duck, a person who I believe should be in here with the rest of us. The head doctor for the entire ward is Mickey. From what I'm told, he's the worst of all of them.

The ward is separated into various groups, each group being led by a nurse. Our nurse was Daisy.

Before our group session began, I decided to get better acquainted with my fellow ward members. I am not a conversationalist by any means, I much prefer thinking, but for some reason I found myself, comfortable around them, there was a certain warmness about it, for a moment I forgot I was a mental patient and thought that I was at a community center. At the end day I fully believed that I would get to go back to the jungle and roam free as I had before. This idea was crushed violently and forever with the sound of bars closing the ward up separating it from the gym area. In my mind, this place is prison, the mental institution part of the building is nothing more than a lie.

We made our way to a table where Hades casually pulled out a deck of cards and dealt the hand. We were playing poker.

"Alright newbie" Hades said as he dealt my cards, "What are you here for?"

I shrugged and gave the best answer I could, "Amnesia."

Hades laughed at this, "So you don't even know!" the god said, "Well ain't that a shame. What you'd say your name was again?"

I shrugged again and answered him, "Depends who you ask. My mother calls me Shere Khan. Robin calls me Shere Khan-Shere Khan and Daisy calls me Gerald. So take your pick."

Hades nodded in understanding and gestured around the group in clockwise order.

"That's Scar, Ursula, Pete, James Sullivan Hook" Hades gestured to himself, "and I'm Hades."

I nodded to everyone and the game began.

Hook won the first hand and so got to deal the second. There were small pin sized holes in the corners of the cards. Ursula won the second hand and dealt the third, the cards were now slimy. I won the third hand and dealt the fourth, five bigger holes appeared in the cards. Hades won the fourth and by that time the game was over because Hades accidentally burnt them to a crisp.

After the card game Scar and Ursula retreated to their beds, which were next to each other, and began talking. From the looks of the conversation they were a couple. Scar and Ursula have asked me not to disclose any information regarding the details, only that it ended with them in each other's arm, or rather paws and tentacles, whispering sweet nothings. Hades and Pete were quietly staring at a blank TV. Hook was reading Treasure Island, promising all of us that when we got out he would take us on his boat to tour the world. At this prospect we all began to dream, we could all smell the sea air, feel the breeze on our backs and for a moment at least we were free.

After a shit poor lunch, Daisy had us all sit in a circle in the most uncomfortable chairs imaginable and began the group session. The sessions required that we talk about our problems, the reasons why we think are here, what we believe what is wrong with ourselves and how we can improve ourselves to better society. At present we were working with Scar.

"Now that we've heard your story Scar" Daisy began as she looked around, "What do you have to say about his behavior?"

Ursula was the first one to speak.

"I think he was completely in the right" she answered, "he built an empire from nothing, brought law and order to a lawless and uncivilized people and helped unify the country under one banner. The only reason that the Pride Lands were in a state of decay was because of situations beyond his control."

Daisy raised his eyebrows, "Does starving an entire people count as something beyond his control?"

"Starve them?" Scar asked, getting on the defensive, "I did no such thing my dear! The hyenas became ravenous. They ate everything! Every blade of grass, every zebra and every antelope they could catch. I sent the people away to a safe location, why do you think there was no one there in the fields?"

Next to Daisy was a TV. Connected to this TV was a Blu-Ray player. She pulled out _The Lion King_ and waved it in Scar's face.

"I believe this" Daisy said, "Says otherwise Scar."

Scar huffed, "That's because it was made by Disney. They just absolutely _love_ Simba. Doting over him as he's the Second Coming of Christ or something, it's pathetic!"

Daisy nodded dismissively, "Which brings us to your superiority complex Scar."

"It's inferiority complex" Scar corrected sharply, "I have a very poor self image you know."

Daisy rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Scar" she said, her voice gentle and somehow able to cut like razor blades, "The sooner you open up to your feelings the faster you will recover. Now, should we talk about Ursula?"

Scar flared up at this, "My romantic pursuits are no business of yours! Now either treat me as you claim to be doing or leave me alone."

Daisy turned towards Ursula. Scar butted in once again.

"You say anything to her and there's going to be roasted duck on the menu you cold heartless bitch!"

Daisy ignored him.

"Ursula" she began, "Tell me about your relationship with Scar?"

Scar jumped from his chair, claws at the ready, before he could so much as do anything Horace and Minnie were on top of him. In one swift motion they clipped Scar's claws, restrained his jaw and sat him back down in his chair. Scar growled, ferocious at the treatment, but decided to comply for the betterment of his heath.

Ursula shifted uncomfortably in her chair. At this point Pete, who hardly said anything up until now, stepped in to defend her.

"Miss Daisy" Pete began respectively, "Can we please get back to the session? I really don't see how this is helping anybody."

Daisy nodded in full agreement and turned back to Scar.

"Are you ready to proceed?" she asked.

Scar nodded, with a snap of Daisy's wings Horace removed the restraints and gave Scar a pill to calm him down. It did nothing.

After a few minutes we got back on track, still working on Scar. Daisy looked around the group again, I was busy grooming and so didn't notice, Daisy gave me a cold harsh look that commanded my attention, but like I said before I was grooming and so didn't notice. Hades, who was next to me, lightly jabbed my elbow, causing me to look up and meet Daisy's gaze.

"Perhaps you would like to comment?" Daisy asked, her voice calm but threatening at the same time.

I looked around at all of them, I could their eyes, they were pleading that I just answer the question straight, I wouldn't. I would tell the truth.

"I personally don't see why Scar is here" I replied.

This got a wide eyed stare from Daisy, "Oh really?" she asked, still maintaining her tone, "And why is that?"

I laughed sarcastically and gestured towards Scar.

"Look at him!" I shouted, "There's nothing wrong with him! He's not a batshit crazy Merry Melodies Looney Tune! He's a Disney. Just like you and just like me and all of us in this damn building! Sure we don't always make good or right decisions but that's life sometimes!"

Daisy moved around in her chair, I could smell the fear, she was simply reeking with it. I ignored my first instinct of pouncing and continued with my response.

"You move on" I declared as I looked about the group, "You go out into the world and fix things, that why they're called _mistakes._ If mistakes weren't fixable then they would be called something else!"

Daisy remained unchanged, "What would they be called?" she asked following up my statement.

I didn't even bother to answer, for in all honesty there was no answer to give. There was no answer to give because the answer didn't exist.

Daisy turned her head slightly and leaned in, "I think you will find that I am the law here Shere Khan"

Scar interrupted her and cleared his throat, "its Gerald" Scar replied.

"What did you say?" Daisy asked turned towards the lion once more.

"Shere Khan?" Scar replied, "Is really Gerald."

Daisy stared at him as if he were a mental patient, which he was, making it an entirely literal statement. Daisy stood up and turned towards the group, "I think we're done for the day."

The bell rang signifying the end of the day. The nurses came in and led us to our beds. They say that the first night in any new place is the hardest, in here, every night gets a little harder because every night you're trying not to slit your throat to simply end the madness.


	2. The Next Morning

The Next Morning

These people have no idea what mental illness is. For starters we're strapped to our beds as if we're going to start going on psychopathic rampages, killing people for no apparent reason. Now I'm no fan of humans, I can't stand them, but I am a tiger of principles, I don't kill randomly, if I do kill, I have a reason.

We were awakened by a large bell as if we were in the Army, this caused me to jump out of my fur and try to stand but I was violently held back by my restraints. Ursula, who could easily get out of her bed, assisted me once again with my trouble. She then assisted Scar with his, for even though he had been here longer than me, it obviously didn't make it any easier.

Horace lined us up and took roll. To the right of my group was the second group on the floor. What I saw horrified me, and it still does to this day.

In the line to our right was the Sheriff of Nottingham, Maleficent and Archdeacon Claude Frollo, ran by Minnie. The thing that horrified me was their faces, all of them were grim, pale, and their eyes dead as if all feeling had left them. In addition to this, their bodies, once strong and proud were now weak and feeble. The worst was the Honorable Sheriff; he had the look of a defeated man, or wolf I should say. A once honorable member of society who had fallen from grace through a simple error, an error that despite his best attempts at correcting only ended him up in this horrible place, in which the only unforgiveable sin would be to spare one's life so that they would have to continue living in this hell on Earth; was now only a shell of his former self.

The Sheriff turned towards me and struggled to speak; before he could Minnie slapped him as hard as she could. After this, she covered it up by giving the Sheriff his medicine, which he took without question. Maleficent gently grasped his hand, her voice could be heard from across the room, it was surprising gentle, for an evil queen.

"Be strong Thomas" she said to him, "Be strong."

The Sheriff nodded and sighed, it was deep and ready, the sigh that a man would give when he knows that it is the last breath of fresh air he will ever take. The Sheriff then walked over to the corner of the room, sat on a bench, and said nothing.

"It's a shame" Hades whispered to me, "To be respected and yet feared. Misunderstood, beaten and kicked like a dog!"

I nodded in understanding, for I figured almost every patient in the facility had been given the same treatment. "What makes him so different?" I asked curiously.

"He doesn't speak" Hades answered quickly, "Hasn't spoken a word since he got here about a year ago. The doctors claim that he is basically a walking lobotomy but without the procedure."

"Is he mad perhaps?" I asked concern growing in my voice

Hades laughed warmly at this, "The only ones who are mad are the ones wearing the uniforms."

Horace gave us our medicine; I snuck mine under my tongue for I knew that the medicine would do me more harm than good; I wish I could say the same for everyone, especially The Sheriff.

Scar and Ursula head each other's hands, Scar then walked over and sat next to The Sheriff and said nothing.

"What is that bench for?" I asked to no one in particular, surprisingly Horace answered me.

"That bench is for the shock treatments Khan" he said, he shivered the more he thought about it, "The things they do in there-said to break the will of any who try to oppose the will of Mickey and Robin. They're the worst kind, no honor, no dignity. They're of flea biting bastards, the both of them."

I was surprised to hear Horace say these things about Mickey, for I understood them to be the best of friends. Pete also had this same look of confusion; he had known Horace longer than anyone and it seems as if Horace had abandoned all connections and all ties to his life with Mickey with this one statement.

"How can you say that Horace?" Pete asked, "Mickey is your friend!"

Horace shook his head, "Maybe he was" Horace answered, "But now after the things that I've seen him do, the things that I've seen Daisy, Minnie and the others do, there isn't a doubt in my mind. Mickey is a monster, he's no better than the likes of you, Pete- a low, dirty, inconsiderate coward!"

Daisy, who was across the room, heard this and immediately ran over, she was obviously not happy. Horace shrank back in fear; his skin became white as if he were dead. I assumed that he was wishing that he was. Daisy was holding up a frying pan, where she got the makeshift weapon I have no idea. Horace attempted to defend himself the only way he knew how by holding his broom up to serve as shield. This did nothing.

Part of me what to help Horace in his plight, but what would a good thing in the short run would be a very bad thing in the long run. Pete however, stepped in Daisy's path right as she was on the upswing with her pan.

Daisy didn't care that she hit Pete on the head and she also didn't care that he fell to the ground in pain and was screaming his head off. She simply ignored him and went to hitting Horace as hard as she could. I looked around; no one made a move to stop her, not the patients, not the clerks or the other nurses on the floor.

Horace's face was starting to get bloody and since I had nothing personal against the horse, I stepped in to defend him.

"That's enough" I shouted as I attempted to pull Daisy off of Horace with little success.

Daisy either didn't hear me or was ignoring me for she simply continued screaming at and beating Horace to a pulp. Bits of Horace's skin were stuck in her fingernails; it was then that I knew that she wouldn't stop until Horace stopped breathing.

I hated to do it, but it was either that or a have dead horse in the middle of the ward and for some reason that was something I couldn't live with. I used all of my strength to push Daisy off of Horace, slamming her into the wall. Horace, with assistance from Pete, stood up and continued his work as if nothing happened. Large gashes were on his face. Maleficent, after asking permission from Minnie, walked towards Horace and began to use her magic to heal him to best of her abilities. Horace would be sore for a few weeks but otherwise he would still continue to breathe. While this was going on I was busy berating Daisy and giving her a beating of her own, I didn't dare use my claws like I wanted to instead I relied on my teeth to do most of the work.

I spat out a good bit of Daisy, everything from her elbow to her hand on her right arm was gone. She was screaming as she should have, but her eyes still had that calm, unsettling demeanor as if despite her pain, she was still trying to control me.

Mickey came out to the floor; he was followed closely by Donald and Goofy. From what I understand Goofy is the one who performs the lobotomies and "puts you down" if the need arises. Goofy seemed to be the only unchanged, he was just as kind as ever, especially to the patients, even more so to me.

"What's going on here?" Mickey asked as he stepped forward, seeing Daisy's arm on the floor, Hades and Hook trying to stop the blood from flowing to prevent Daisy from bleeding out in the ward.

Donald stared in horror.

"Daisy!" he screamed, "W-w-what happened? Who did this to you?"

Daisy gave an accusing finger my way. Donald turned towards me and pulled out a revolver.

"You tried to kill her" Donald exclaimed, "You-you-"

Donald closed his eyes and fired, the bullet thankfully hitting the glass of the innocent window behind me. Donald, upon seeing that I was still alive, took aim again; Mickey stopped him before he could do anything else.

"That's enough Donald" Mickey said, his voice cold and unforgiving, "He'll suffer a fate worse than death."

Donald smiled at this, he knew what this meant. Donald stepped towards me; my paws were still bloody from Daisy. He pulled out a pair of shackles and slapped them on before I could blink. Donald then gave a smile, it was almost menacing, like one I would give. The duck slowly lead me to the bench and forced me to sit on the floor.

Shock therapy, when done correctly, can be effective in curing mental patients. When done incorrectly, like everything at this facility, it only make things worse. I was sentenced to the maximum legal dosage, anything more and Shere Khan, your trusted author, would be dead and this memoir would not exist.

Goofy was also the one who gave the shock treatments, apparently Mickey believed that lobotomies, shock therapy and killing people by lethal injection are somehow in the same ballpark.

Sometimes I wonder if it is us, the patients, that are sane and rather it is the workers, the clerks and the nurses, the people who are taking care of us, who are the insane ones. I wonder what it would be like if our roles were reversed? Would we be the same people we were before? Would we go back to our villainous ways? Or would our time here change us to become members of society? It depends on when the switch to be honest with you. No doubt, in the beginning, on everyone's first day, the patients turned staff would be just evil as they were before. But now, who can say? I believe that most of us would simply move on with our lives, we have forgotten the reasons why we came here and the reasons why we choose to be evil in the first place. Yet still despite our rehabilitation we remain.

The first few seconds were childish at best; in fact it tickled a bit. I did not laugh for that would only speed things up. Goofy up the dosage carefully, each time letting me what he was setting it to, in way it was almost like a physical at the local doctor's office, only with more pain and no paperwork.

I will not lie, I screamed, well I guess you can a roar if you want. As the watts increased, so did the pain, each second was a minute and each minute an hour. After forty minutes I was done.

Stepping out of the shock treatment I looked to my right and saw Scar. I wanted to ask how it went but I knew that the answer wouldn't be good. To my left I saw the Sheriff. The wolf stared at me for a few moments. I smiled and gave a gentle wave. The Sheriff, in response, nodded and lifted his paw; it was all he did do apparently for he could still fell the volts running through him when he stepped out of the room. He remained silent. I went back to my group and decided to use what little time I had before the next the group session to write the events of the day.


	3. Chapter 3

Hook was busy the playing the piano, for some reason it was Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind." I guess he found it fitting, however he couldn't sing, so the piano simply did all of the work. When I say he was the playing the piano, I mean it literally, for there was an recreation room at the facility, it was the only place on the premises where patients could be "free", staff came at irregular intervals and respected our privacy. I don't why they even bothered for they had their hands in everything else that was now our lives. I guess it was way for them to clear their guilty conscious.

Speaking of conscious, Jiminy Cricket, the ward consular, was making his rounds around the recreation area. Jiminy was the only person besides Goofy who gave a damn about us, he would tell us stories of the outside world, keeping us informed and making sure that we didn't get cabin fever by taking us outside every once in a while.

"So you're new here eh?" Jiminy began as he approached me, "Well pleasure to meet yah, Cricket's the name, Jiminy Cricket."

At first it was difficult talking to Jiminy, mostly because he was Hero and I was a Villain, that and my attitude towards Heroes had always been skewed somewhat, especially since I've been here.

"Don't tell me" Jiminy continued, "You think that I'm going to scold you for being what you are."

"Are you?" I asked, "I've already had enough of that today. Can't we follow the Golden Rule for a minute please, that's all I ask!"

Jiminy laughed, amused by my response, "Don't worry friend" Jiminy replied, "I accept all people...of all stripes too."

I had to laugh at this, being a tiger it is a natural response, it is a joke that I have heard all too often and one that I am personally sick of but with Jiminy it was different. He carried with him a sense of respect, both for himself and for the patients that reflected in everything he said and did, in other words, the ultimate consular.

"Khan's the name" I exclaimed, humoring him to see how far I could go, "Shere Khan."

Jiminy not exploded with laughter but also lifted his hat as well, I took as a sign of approval, one that being "lame tiger" as Kipling would have me, I take with every fiber of my being.

"You don't have to do that" Jiminy said through his laugher, "But I'll take it just the same. Come on"

Jiminy motioned for me to follow him, I did so, making sure to keep both eyes locked on the insect to avoid accidentally stomping him.

Jiminy led me to a small room, in this room was a single chair and a couch. The room was a cream color, not white but almost. For some reason the smell of the jungle aired throughout the room, I assumed it was to make me as comfortable as possible. Truth be told it only made things worse.

I sat down on the couch, Jiminy sat in the chair. He pulled out a clipboard, I sat patiently waiting for the questions to start, but they never came. Jiminy only sat there and smiled, just staring at me as I were a trophy or something to be desired. It was awkward, the first few minutes, for there was nothing but silence, both of us waiting to see what the other would do. Eventually Jiminy gave a long sigh and spoke.

"This isn't going to work unless you tell about yourself"

I raised my eyebrows in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

Jiminy let out a knowing laugh accompanied by the slight sake of the head. "Look Shere Khan" he continued, "I know just as well as you do that you're not crazy. You have no right to be here. But by law you have to be treated. I can do that, but only if you let me."

I nodded in understanding; Jiminy was one of those people who believed, as I believe, that treatment begins not with violence or force, but with mutual understanding and respect. Opening up to a person allows for trust and once trust is developed, anything, even treatment for "mental illness" is possible. But order for any of this to happen there must people who care, people like Jiminy, who listen more than they talk.

"You know what's wrong with yourself" Jiminy said after a moment of unresponsiveness, "So tell me. How did you get here?"

"That's a long story" I answered sadly, "One that I try to forget...but no matter what I do it always comes back to haunt me."

Jiminy nodded, "Begin" he pleaded, "Trust me, when this is over you'll already feel better."

I took a deep breath, rolled my neck around and searched the recesses of my mind for the past and a story that I desperately wanted to remain in the past...

It begins and ends with the most basic of what you would human emotions and what I would call instinct-love.

Growing up was difficult for me, mostly because my mother disowned me, calling me lame and disfigured, the right side of my body significantly lower than the rest. It was a sign of weakness to everyone, everyone expect her.

She was the only person who even remotely cared for me; she would give me water, food, shelter, anything that I needed.

"When you say person" Jiminy interrupted, "Do you mean an actual person, or in the Disney sense of the word as in an individual?"

"The literal sense of the word person" I explained, "She was a member of the human village that supposedly spawned Mowgli."

"What happened to her?" Jiminy pressed.

"I'll get to that in a minute Jiminy" I continued, "just please let me speak."

Jiminy fell silent, I continued my story.

I cannot remember her name, but I do remember her beauty, it was like the sun came down and ravished her skin, her very being, making her a golden idol that is both untouchable and just as desirable.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Jiminy asked, curiosity with a hint of revulsion in his voice setting in.

I nodded, for I saw no point in lying.

"Yes" I replied, "I desired her, to be able to feel such things. To have a single moment, the degree of contact was unimportant; all that matter was that I was able to touch her. I guess I was too hard."

Jiminy leaned in, concern and seriousness were now in his demeanor, I could only imagine what he thought. I didn't have to imagine, I knew what I had done.

The villagers, upon learning that one of their own had a tiger in their possession, decided to take arms. I was with her at the time, swimming in the river a few miles downstream from the village. They came with torches, pitchforks, swords, axes and clubs; I could see murder in their eyes.

"And that's where your fear of fire came from?" Jiminy said, interrupting once again.

"No" I answered, "That's next."

My rather irrational fear of fire came when they started throwing their torches, at this point we were already on the bank and surrounded by brush, it caught fire almost immediately...

I stopped, for continuing would mean reliving the horror, which I supposed was the whole point of the session to begin with. I swallowed hard and with great effort, continued.

All I could hear was her screams, she called out to me. I tried...but there was nothing I could do. She was dead. Do you know what it's like to lose everything Jiminy? It's like you're dead, but somehow are still breathing, your lungs and brain don't follow your heart, continuing their cycles as if nothing were happening. That is the cruelness of air sometimes, we think it is a blessing, and in most cases it is, but there are those moments where death would be a better option than continuing life only a shadow of your former self.

After that, I don't know what happened, the villagers came for me, I fled, but not after taking a few of them to join her. On that day I swore my revenge against those murderers, they blamed her death on me and so it is part of the reason why I am here.

I stopped, waiting for Jiminy to give an answer or some kind of response. He said nothing, only making his way out of the room and closing the door behind him.

**For clarification, Shere Khan is and always will be a tiger. The backstory is about him, as a tiger, being a tiger, loving a human and because of this she is ultimately killed, Shere Khan develops his hatred of humans and the eventual commitment of Shere Khan to the facility. Sorry for the confusion.**


End file.
